


Quiet Moments

by Tea__Bee



Series: Moments [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Ducknerva, F/M, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Realizing romantic feelings, The Adventure Zone (Amnesty), little moments, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-10-29 04:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20790293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea__Bee/pseuds/Tea__Bee
Summary: Little moments that lead up to Duck and Minerva's relationship becoming romantic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Justin threw us for a bit of a loop at the end there, but honestly I love Duck/Minerva so much and I wish I had gotten to see the little moments that built their love! So now I guess I have to write them up myself!

Stepping through the temporary doorway back to Earth, Duck Newton realized he was going to be alone now. Ned was gone, and until someone found a way to link Sylvain and Earth again, Aubrey and Thacker would be gone, too. Sure, it wasn't permanent, but he'd feel the loss of their presence all the same. Mama would be around, and some of the other Amnesty Lodge folks, but he'd be missing what had become a second family over the last however many months fighting Abominations and saving worlds. His feet touched the floor of Billy's old bedroom above the Cryptonomica and he sighed. His "destiny" was largely over and done with, now. Sure, there'd be some rebuilding to do in Kepler, and a life to live, but what was he supposed to do with it now? He'd spent most of his life shunning being a "Chosen One", then been thrust into the responsibility anyway, and he'd lived. They'd done it, the worlds were saved, and now they had to just… keep living. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started his walk home. 

"Wayne Newton," a voice that was ingrained in his bones boomed out behind him as footfalls followed him. He smiled automatically as he turned to face Minerva, who was walking out of the portal toward him. "I have also chosen to stay on Earth over Sylvain. Looks like I am going to need a place to stay." 

Duck chuckled and warmth bloomed in his chest when she used his real name. There was no getting away from that now, and he had the feeling that others in town would start catching on, with how loudly she tended to speak. She was probably still the only one he'd let get away with it long term, though. "Well, Minerva, you're basically already staying with me, might as well not change it until we can get you settled somewhere that feels more like a home for you, now that you're staying on this planet for the foreseeable future."

"This is true, Wayne Newton! Let us go home, then." She laughed, patting him on the back. 

He jolted a few steps forward at the force and they walked downstairs through the currently empty Cryptonomica and through the town. It was quiet, the aftermath of the battles strewn across the streets. Some people were out and cleaning up debris, but for the most part it seemed people had retreated to their homes. 

They reached Duck's apartment quickly and quietly, and he opened the door for her out of ingrained habit. It seemed surreal that they were here, and that the apartment looked the same as they'd left it. Notes were scattered on the coffee table where they'd left them, coffee mugs cold on the counter, a light left on in the hallway. Everything looked normal, like the world hadn't nearly ended hours before. He stood in the doorway and watched Minerva for a moment as she moved automatically to tidy up papers they no longer needed. 

He shook his head and smiled fondly. "Hey, uh, Minerva, do you want a snack or something?" It struck him as odd that having her here, being fine, even happy, with that after avoiding her for so long  _ wasn't _ weird. It felt normal. It felt good. He wasn't going to be alone after all this after all. 

She looked up, tapping a stack of papers on the table, "That sounds very good. I am quite hungry after the harrowing battle, a snack would be wonderful!"

Duck nodded and scratched the back of his neck, "Peanut butter sandwiches sound good?"


	2. Chapter 2

Leo was the first to notice. He asked what everyone wanted for takeout one night when he, Sarah, Duck, and Minerva were all crammed into Duck's living room. It had been a long day. The repairs to the town were well underway, most of the smaller jobs done, and the larger tasks passed on to contractors and other professionals. But there was still plenty to do, so the four had worked hard that day and decided to wind down together with some grub and a movie.

Sarah replied, "I'm fine with anything," and went back to flipping channels looking for something to watch.

"You know what sounds real good right now?" Duck thought out loud. 

"Pan-fried noodles" Duck finished, as

"Pan-fried noodles!" Minerva chimed in at the same time from the other side of the room.

Duck and Minerva laughed as Leo just stared at them like they'd grown extra heads. Sarah looked up for a moment before shaking her head and turning back to the television. 

"Okay, now," Leo pointed the phone at Minerva and Duck, "tell me the truth, are y'all sure you're not still psychically connected because you do that a lot."

"Like last week when Minerva was trying to figure out the name for that plant and Duck, you just knew exactly what it was even though her description was completely confused. Juno didn't even know what she was talking about." Sarah said.

"No, no, we're not still in each other's heads or anything, just, I dunno," Duck paused, trying to come up with a reason he and Minerva always understood each other in ways others just didn't. "I mean, we live together and see each other every day, we're bound to tune into each other." He looked at Minerva. 

"Of course, Leo Tarkesian." Minerva boomed. "If I were still psychically linked with Wayne Newton's mind, I would also be linked to yours, and to that of Dr. Sarah Drake! We simply live together, and pick up on each other's intimate quirks, thus we seem closer than other people!"

"Now, I don't know if I'd call them intimate quirks, Minerva…" But the damage of the phrase was done. Leo and Sarah were laughing and teasing Duck and Minerva, but mostly Duck, who not only picked up on the subtle ribbing but also had turned bright red. "Alright, alright, can we just order Chinese and pick a damn movie, already?"

Leo chuckled and walked away to order their regular Chinese food order and left Duck blushing and stuttering over movie titles. 

It didn't usually bug him when Minerva said some odd turn of phrase, mincing words or using a sentence in a way that was just  _ slightly _ off, but he couldn't deny that the words "intimate quirks" did sort of strike him in a different way. They  _ were _ sort of intimate, not… not  _ that way _ , but they did spend nearly all of their time together and had become much more familiar with each other than he had ever thought he'd want. They fit together in this little apartment like puzzle pieces or fingers intertwining. Hell, she'd followed him to work so often that she'd picked up the job very quickly and been hired while she was just sitting on a picnic bench talking to him on his shift. 

She'd started learning to cook when she couldn't sit by and let him do all the work, insisting she needed to keep her hands busy, and they had started taking turns cooking on different nights. On nights they both wanted to cook, they nearly danced around each other in the little kitchen Aubrey had always called a "one-butt kitchen" because of its lack of space. But they both fit, if only just barely. 

Duck blushed again at the thought of last week when they'd been moved to get into the same space on accident and ended up pressed together, facing each other in the yellow light from the one bulb that wasn't burnt out on the ceiling. Minerva had laughed and reached over his head to get the measuring cup she needed and he had felt her laughter rumbling in his chest. He cleared his throat, "How about a classic?" He suggested as they flipped to a channel that was playing Indiana Jones.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 3:27 a.m. when Duck woke up to a loud rumble of thunder and the sound of movement in the kitchen. He sat up in bed groggily, trying to brush off the surge of panic that came from having to be on alert for the last year or so. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, he got up, put his robe over his t-shirt and boxers and padded barefoot out of the room. 

The light was on in the kitchen and he could hear Minerva shuffling around. He leaned against the jamb and watched her for a moment. She was making mac and cheese, which had become something of a favorite of hers. She was humming as she stirred the cheese into the pasta and he thought he recognized the song as something from the Top 40 radio station. He chuckled, which drew her attention. 

"Wayne Newton, I am sorry, did I wake you? The storm has given me some extra energy, and I decided to make cheesy mac." The light flashed through the kitchen window and illuminated her skin. 

"No, no, Minerva, the, ah… The thunder woke me up and then I heard you so I thought I'd check on you, which seems silly now, I know you can take care of yourself, I just, well," he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Did you make enough mac for me? It smells good."

"Of course! I always make enough for both of us." Minerva smiled at him and he grinned sleepily back at her. 

As they sat and ate quietly at the table at the window and watched the storm pelt the town, Duck found himself sneaking glances at her. He looked at her a lot, in regular ways, normal everyday ways, but this early in the morning, when she was cozy in her pajamas, eating mac and cheese at odd hours, soft from sleep, it felt almost intrusive. Almost too intimate. That word was still sticking in his brain. Intimate. Their elbows brushed when she reached for the pepper grinder and he looked into her eyes and smiled nervously, but she didn't seem to find anything awkward about it, she just smiled warmly back at him. He chuckled and went back to eating his mac and cheese. "This is really good mac, Minerva."


	4. Chapter 4

Duck was getting restless. The repairs to the town were done, and life was going on like nothing had happened, like no one had died, or gone to live on other planets, or straight up moved out of town. Businesses had reopened, the Hornets were working on plans for some adventure hangout thing he didn't completely understand, and Duck… Duck was at a loss. He went to work, he went home, he hung out with Minerva for a bit, and then he went to sleep, before repeating it all the next day. 

Occasionally he helped Minerva look at apartments but after the first couple of weeks, they stopped. Minerva said she was fine with the second bedroom in his apartment if he was still willing to let her stay, that having her own place would be odd after having lived with someone. And he wasn't going to lie and tell her he didn't like having her around, that having her there in his apartment didn't feel like something had clicked into place after being just a bit off-center for too long. So they moved the things she didn't need out of the spare room and went out on one of their days off to buy her new furniture, some stuff for the walls. They got new cookware, too. His old stuff wasn't gonna cut it much longer if she kept learning new things to make, and cooking made Minerva happy, so Duck was happy to get something to make the whole thing easier and more fun for her. 

She made picking out the new things seem more like an adventure than a chore, too, and as much as he'd have thought he'd be tired of adventure by now, maybe it was something he still needed. 

So there was new cookware, new dishes(Minerva's cooking was too good for paper plates and plastic forks at this point), a lamp and an extra chair in the living room, Minerva's new work schedule written in careful hand underneath his on the calendar by the door, and the apartment felt more like a home than it had in years. But there was still that feeling like something was missing, something was off, lingering under Duck's skin and making him restless and existentially itchy. He couldn't put his finger on it until one day, three months after they'd returned to Earth, while he was helping Minerva hang her brand new sword rack on her wall. 

"'Nerva, when're you even gonna use this thing? I've never seen you without your sword on you except at work, 'n even then, it's in the dang truck." He said with a screw between his teeth as he hammered the anchor into the wall. 

"Well, I suppose I've started to realize I don't need it, Wayne Newton. We haven't seen any sign of trouble since we defeated Reconciliation, and I don't see any reason we will. My sword should have an honorable resting place, and be kept safe in case we do one day need it again, but I no longer feel the need to keep it on my person, now that life is so quiet, and no threat looms overhead." She replied happily, standing back to observe and make sure the anchors were placed level with each other. "I don't see any need not to keep in shape, but perhaps my sword is no longer necessary, and I can explore new forms of defense. I hear the Hornets are putting a wall for rock climbing in their new facility! That should be plenty sufficient for fitness along with the kickboxing classes they offer at the gym."

The whir of the electric drill spinning the screws into place allowed him to be quiet for a moment before he had to put his thoughts into words. He was afraid it would all come spilling out and come out wrong, like his head was too small for his thoughts. Everything in his life seemed small right now. The small town, the small apartment with it's two small rooms, the small living room, minuscule bathroom, and one-butt kitchen. Even his job felt small, looking after the forest that was big itself, but it's problems were small now that the Abominations were gone. All the rangers had to regulate now was camping passes really. The only thing that wasn't small in his life was Minerva, really. Not just because she was so large physically, vocally, and personality-wise, but because she had permeated his life in such a big way. He didn't know how long that would last, how long this small life would satisfy her. He found himself abjectly terrified of how much the loss of her would affect him once she decided to move on. 

The drill slipped from the Phillips head slot of the screw and landed with a  _ thunk, _ embedding itself in the wall a couple of inches from where the screw was aimed. "Fuck." He pulled it from the wall a bit too roughly and widened the hole further. "Dammit!" 

"Wayne Newton, are you alright? I-"

"Yeah, Minerva, I'm…" he paused, putting the drill on her new dresser with a sigh. "I'm fine, I just," he looked up at her with a pained expression on his face. "I can't really believe you're not gonna have your sword on you 24/7. It's weird."

"Every warrior comes to a point they retire and go on to a new purpose, Wayne Newton. I do not need my sword to better this world any longer." She was looking at him curiously. 

"I mean, I guess that's true," Duck thought about it. Were they really bettering the world that much? They worked in the forest and made sure nobody burned anything down or littered, but those were more passive than active. He wasn't sure if being passive was what he wanted to do with his life, but he figured it would get boring for her even faster. "I need some water, I'll be right back." 

Minerva watched him with her head cocked to one side as he left her room. 

…

He stood in the kitchen, listening to the scraping sounds of Minerva adjusting the rack against the wall until it latched onto the anchored screws, with an empty cup in his hand. He'd meant to get water, but the thought of Minerva leaving was still nagging at the forefront of his mind and he couldn't shake it. 

What would he even do with her gone? 

Why did it matter to him so much that she stay?

And then he realized. "I'm an idiot." He murmured to himself, staring at the empty cup in his hand. "I'm an absolute fool." He didn't even have time to process the feelings he only just realized had burrowed deep in his chest when her footsteps sounded down the short hall and stopped just outside the open square arch of the kitchen. 

She cleared her throat as she peered around the corner. "Are you quite alright, Wayne Newton?"

"Y-yeah, Minnie, I'm fine." He said softly. "I, uh… just needed a minute."

She moved to stand in the doorway and tilted her head at him again. "Are you sure? Pardon if I overstep, but you seem quite bothered by something. Do you wish to talk about your troubles?"

"Uh," he stalled for a moment, then sighed and turned to get water from the tap. "I don't know. I'm just feeling…"  _ more than I bargained for? _ "Restless?" Sure.

"That is understandable, Wayne Newton!" She chuckled.

"I-it is?" He turned back to face her again. "I don't know, I guess I'm just having sort of a rough time adjusting to life after the world  _ didn't _ end. We actually did what we were supposed to, and then we're just expected to go on with our mundane lives, you can't even get back to your home planet, Aubrey and Thacker and N-Ned are  _ gone _ and it feels like we lost even though we won!" He was pacing now, and she furrowed her brow at him as she moved to sit in her chair at the small kitchen table. "We saved  _ two worlds _ and now we pick up trash campers leave in the forest, we act like nothing crazy happened,like the world outside of Kepler isn't still falling apart, I mean have I mentioned global warming to you before, or the rainforest? And we can't really do anything about it, not from Kepler anyway, and you…" he gestured at her in her brightly patterned button-up and high waisted jeans. "Min', do you ever... I mean, you've done so much, been at war for so long, and it was such an adventure and now it's just... Over. How is this," he spread his arms wide to gesture to the small apartment he'd come to think of as 'theirs' instead of 'his', "enough for you?" It all came rushing out of him and he felt like he couldn't breathe once it was said. He braced his hands on the table and looked out the window.

Minerva was silent for several long moments, staring and her hands in her lap. Then she moved one of them to cover one of his on the tabletop. “Wayne Newton, I was alone for a very long time. I destroyed the planet paired with mine, and subsequently, lead to my own’s destruction. Occasionally, I could reach out to Leo Tarkesian, and then eventually to you. But still, I was alone on my planet. Then, I came here. To Leo Tarkesian, to Dr. Sarah Drake, and, of course, to you. I was no longer alone. And we saved your world, and Sylvain. And then we came back here, and we rebuilt.” She stopped. He had never heard her this quiet. “I never got to rebuild my home planet.” She sighed. “But here, we rebuilt, and things are normal. You say that like it’s a bad thing, but it is not. Now, I know the people in the supermarket, and they say hello whenever they see me, and they ask how you are if you’re not with me. I pet people’s dogs when I walk down the street. I very much like dogs, Duck. And,” She looked up at him, finally, and he looked away from their joined hands and into her eyes. “I still have you. Which would be enough in itself, Wayne Newton.”

He still felt like the air had left his lungs, but now, with her looking up at him, looking into his eyes with such sincerity, it felt like that air had been replaced with something lighter. Something like hope. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and leaned almost imperceptibly closer, “Min’?” And she smiled, and met him halfway.


	5. Chapter 5

Kissing Minerva wasn't how he'd imagined it. Actually, he realized he hadn't imagined kissing her at all. He'd dreamed about it, once. In the dream, they'd been sitting on the couch, watching a movie like always, and she'd laughed, the big wonderful laugh of hers, and he  _ had _ to kiss her. When he woke up, they  _ were  _ watching a movie on the couch, and he'd fallen asleep with his head on her shoulder. She was sitting stiffly as still as she could, and he'd thought she must be uncomfortable. He'd blushed, hoped she couldn't see it in the dim light of the room, and apologized before immediately retreating to his room. He'd put the dream out of his mind. He didn't want to lose Minerva, and kissing her was a sure way to freak her out and send her packing, he was sure of it. So he just didn't let himself think about it at all. Apparently he had put himself so far in denial he had convinced himself the feelings didn't exist. 

But now…

Now he was standing in his kitchen, at the little table by the window, and leaning down to kiss her. 

And it was incredible.

She tilted her face up to meet him and their lips brushed, tentatively. He pulled back to look in her eyes, and she spoke. "W-Wayne, I… does this mean…?" She whispered with a soft smile.  _ Whispered! _ He'd bever seen her this quiet, or unsure at all. But her eyes were lit up, and she was smiling at him, the way she had so many times before that he just hadn't noticed. 

"Yes." He barely got out the word before he cupped her face and kissed her again, hard, and her arms came around his waist and pulled him into her lap. 

He could feel her smiling into the kiss, and realized he was, too. He felt her sigh as he changed the angle, felt her tongue tentatively slide across his lips, and parted them to give her access. She ran her hands up his sides, one of them brushing his jaw as she pulled away, eyes still on his lips for a few seconds before they flicked up to his eyes again.

"Wayne Newton, I did not know if you… I had hoped, but you never said, or indicated, even, that you may wish to change our friendship in this way." She was blushing, and he'd never seen her so beautiful.

"I did, I just. I didn't know? I didn't realize that's what was going on, Minnie, I literally just figured out my own feelings about ten minutes ago, because I'm a damn fool." He leaned their foreheads together. "I can only imagine the shit Beacon would give me, he would've caught on way faster." 

She laughed, bright and easy, and he couldn't help but join. "Well, Wayne Newton, where do we go from here? What do you want from this new phase of our relationship?"

"Well, damn, when you put it that way it seems so serious," he chuckled. I don't know, I think we've got a good thing going here." He kissed her, deep and slow for a moment. "Actually, I mean, I know we could just sit and watch movies in our living room, but I kind of want to… well. Minerva, will you go on a real date with me?"

"What makes it a 'real date', exactly? Are there… fake dates? Somehow?"

"No, Min', I just meant maybe we go out for dinner, see a movie, take a walk together?" She tilted her head at him as he said it, and he shook his head. "Yeah, I know, we basically do those things already, huh? But it would be… it's different now." He finished softly, unable to meet her eyes as he said it. "I mean, if you want it to be different."

"Duck, I am merely teasing you!" She laughed and squeezed his arm to bring his eyes back to hers. "Of course I want to go out on a real date with you. And I would love for that date to include things we already do together, merely with this added layer. What is the saying? If it isn't broken, you don't need to repair it?"

He chuckled and kissed her. "Yeah, Minerva, that's the way the saying goes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I was MIA for a little while there, life got in the way of fic(isn't that always the way?), but! I'm very excited to announce I'm worming on a companion piece to Quiet Moments, called Little Moments. I'm hoping to get the first chapter up soon, and I just can't wait for you to see it!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are loved and appreciated! I've enabled moderating them just for the purpose of keeping out any negativity toward the ship.
> 
> -Bee


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